.95" Pelagic Trilobite (Cyclopyge) Fossil (Pos/Neg) - Morocco

This is a .95" long example of an unusual pelagic trilobite (Cyclopyge) from El Kaid Rami, Morocco. The rock split, leaving nice impressions of the trilobite on both the convex (positive) and the concave (negative) sides and both are included with your purchase. The positive measures 5.25 x 4.6" and the negative is 5 x 2.9".

What makes Cyclopyge so unusual is that it is a pelagic (or free swimming) trilobite which lived in the water column, rather than on the sea floor. It was thought to have lived in deeper water (200m) where little sunlight filtered down. It had huge eyes on the sides of its head, rather than on the top like most trilobites, which would have provided it with a great view looking to the sides and downwards.

The compression during the fossilization process did not preserve one of the eyes. This specimen comes with an acrylic display stand for each half of the rock.